EasyJet’s Stelios slams critics over dividend

EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou has lashed out at critics who have questioned his family’s acceptance of a GBP60m dividend this month from the low-cost carrier he created more than 20 years ago, which he has said risks insolvency unless it cancels a multibillion-dollar aircraft order from Airbus. This weekend Sir Stelios, whose family controls 34% of easyJet, threatened to launch a campaign to oust the group’s non-executive directors one by one if the board did not cancel the orders from the European aerospace manufacturer, which he estimated to be worth GBP4.5b.  “The dividend was legally at the point of no return . . . at the very latest on February 27 2020,” he said. The easyJet founder, who stepped down from the board a decade ago, said he was perplexed by media reports that suggested he should have waived the payout. “To be used how? To pay that money straight over to Airbus? . . . Is it meant as a selfless charitable donation? I do give large sums of money to many charities each year but Airbus is not one of them,” he said. The group said on Monday it was seeking to “defer and reduce” payments for the 107 aircraft it has on order from Airbus, as part of a wider cost cutting exercise. The airline also on Monday announced it had grounded its entire fleet.<br/>